WOMEN’S MARCH 2018: FROM THE TRUMP’S YEAR TO THE WOMEN’S REVOLUTION YEAR

January 20th and 21th 2018: Women’s March starts with Trump shut down in the US

WOMEN’S MARCH 2018:

FROM THE TRUMP’S YEAR

TO THE WOMEN’S REVOLUTION YEAR

WOMEN’S MARCH Buenos Aires Edition

FULL ARTICLE IN SPANISH: https://elpiquetero.org/2018/01/25/womens-march-2018-del-ano-de-trump-al-ano-de-la-revolucion-de-mujeres/

On January 21th 2017, Women’s March call to a global march against the presidential assumption of the fascist Donald Trump. The response was massive: millions of women march at 161 cities along the 7 continents and at more than 600 cities in the US. Was the largest march in the hole human history. Today -in the one year anniversary from Trump’s assumption and also from the Women’s March- they were called demonstrations at 125 cities in 34 countries in 5 continents and at 400 cities in the 50 states from the US. It’s already starting to circulate the official number of the millions of women that march this year, for example more than 600 thousands women at Los Ángeles, 200 thousands at New York, 300 thousands at Chicago, hundreds of thousands at Washington DC. The political center this year was the city of Las Vegas. The organizers chose this city to fight for the voters registration of new women’s litters to vote, there they conquered 10 thousands new women registered. They had taken the words from Coretta Scott King, leader of the fight for civil rights during the ‘60 and Martin Luther King’s wife, who says: “If American women increase their voting turnout by ten percent, I think we would see an end to all of the budget cuts in programs benefiting women and children”.

The women’s revolution and the fourth feminist wave remains stand. Women are shaking the whole word and we march in solidarity with the thousands of sisters who decided to break the silence denouncing the harassment and the sexual abuses in Hollywood and in their workplaces. With the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement we say: WE ARE THE RESISTANCE AND THE FUTURE IS FEMINIST.

Women’s March 2018 starts the same day of the Trump’s shut down. It’s the first time in history that the same political party that controls the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House suspends its own government. And if Trump hasn’t got the approval for the budget plan for his government is because he insists in his xenophobic and racist attack against the latinos. It’s in that context that, a year ago from Women’s March, January 20th and 21th, we the women take the streets in a global level in solidarity with the immigrants and against Trump. This is a symbol of the failure of machism and the rise of feminism in the whole word.

That’s why if we have to take stock of the past year, look back and march forward, the best summary is an image: the cover of TIME’s magazine. The “person of the year” in 2016 was the machista, misogynistic, xenophobic and fascist Donald Trump. The “person of the year” in 2017 was the group of women who broke the silence: #MeToo and #TimesUp. It’s even possible to doubt, therefore, that the future belongs to women?

It’s to concentrate the conclusions, that on January 16th was edited the book TOGETHER WE RISE: where the voices and the experiences of the protagonists are written. Women, we are MAKING HISTORY and that’s why WE WRITE OUR OWN HISTORY.

WOMEN’S MARCH GOES INTO THE ELECTORAL AGENDA TO DEFEAT TRUMP AND TO ASK FOR ITS IMPEACHMENT: #PowerToThePolls, #HearOurVote, #MarchOnThePolls, #RiseToRun

This year, also, is an electoral year in the US. In 2018 the mid term legislative elections are going to be held and in 2020 the presidentials general elections will do so. In this 2018 elections are going to be in dispute 435 seats of the House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 seats of the Senate. If republicans lost seats, it’s going to get stronger the possibility of getting Trump impeached. Therefore, this year march means march to the polls.

The fascist government of Trump it’s the very opposite of the Congress debate. He has govern by executive orders, signing more executive orders than anyone else since Lyndon Johnson. The summary of Trump’s administration is the summary of the attacks against the reproductive rights (Planned ParentHood), immigration (Dreamers, DAPA, TPS), health (Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare), this is a constant attack against women. In response, Women’s March propose bear the weight of the women’s suffrage to fight back Trump.

The target is that this Sunday January 21 th 2018, thousands of women gather at Las Vegas, Nevada to launch the electoral campaign in a “swinging-state”, this is, a State that republicans can lose. Nevada is a State that was in the news because of the mass shooting and the politicians accused of sexual harassment. From Nevada, therefore, Women’s March pretends impact in the Senate and build an electoral power for women. First it’s going to be launched an initiative for women registration to vote, then to be trained to be candidates and finally to run for office with their own candidatures to all the elective charges, in a national and local level.

Do women can reach the US Congress? Nowadays, nevertheless women are more than the 50% of the population, is only the 19.4% of the House of Representatives and the 21% of Senate. It’s a huge contrast even with the situation in Argentina, where we have just achieved the GENDER PARITY in order to conquer the 50% and 50% composition. In fact, in the global ranking of women parliamentary representation, US has just get back from the 79 place (in 2013) to the 104 place (in 2017). The situation doesn’t get better outside Washington: women are below the 25%, in average, inside the legislative chambers of each State. Only 10% of the governors are women (5 from 50) and only the 19% of the Cities Majors -with population larger than 30 thousands people- are women. What this is about, therefore, is a provocation from the political machista corporation against the women’s revolution. This is the completely unequal political reality that wants to change the Women’s March.

According to the information of the last elections, at State of California only were registered the 54% of the female population and of those only went to vote the 45%. This shows women low turnout to the elections in the US until now. The Women’s March open a new stage of women’s political electoral participation through the promotion of new candidates and the women’s registration to vote. From Las Piqueteras we support the women’s movement fight to wide the frames of participation in politics as a demand per se against the patriarchy that overcome and exceed the Democratic Party’s purposes. By its way, no candidature that emerges from the Democratic Party it’s going to represent the women from US or neither the world. We don’t trust neither vote for Hillary Clinton or the candidates that support the imperialist war. Therefore, women are registered to participate not only in the Democratic Party but also in left and socialists parties that constitute opposition parties to Trump in the US. It’s clear that an irruption of women in the political process in the US and the defeat of the Republican Party is going to promote better conditions in the way of inflict definitely the impeachment to remove the misogynist and machista government of Donald Trump.

FROM THE DENOUNCE WITH THE #MeToo TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE #TimesUp. WE THE WOMEN SAY #WeNoLongerKeepSilent

In October the women’s revolution broke out in Hollywood with the denounces of the actress Ashley Judd (and the dozens of women that join her after) against Harvey Weinstein. The movement was known as #MeToo and the denounces spread to dozens of others actors, producers and directors. It was, certainly, a cultural and political revolution that changed Hollywood and all the world for ever.

That’s why, in the Golden Globes, it was constituted the #TimesUp movement to join the Hollywood celebrities -Reese Witherspoon, America Ferrera, Shonda Rhimes, Eva Longoria, among others- with the rural women workers and all the women workers in a money fund. That money fund -that amounts 13 millions dollars- is to finance the legal sponsorship of the women victims of harassment and sexual abuse. In fact “MeToo” was founded by the activist Tarana Burke about more than 10 years ago as a popular movement to help the sexual attacks survivors in the disadvantaged communities. The turning point created by the #TimesUp was the connection beyond the Hollywood actresses denounces with the women who fight against the abuses. In November 700 thousands rural women workers sign a letter addressed to the actresses to achieve they get involved in the fight against the abuses in each and every workplace.

#TimesUp initiative found “a money fund to the legal defense to help the less privileged women -like janitors, nurses and workers at farms, factories, restaurants, and hotels- protect themselves from sexual misconduct and the fallout from reporting it”. Also it affirms that will defend the initiatives to penalize the companies that tolerate harassment and for the equity at studios and talent agencies.

In that frame is the statement of Tarana Burke “for each Harvey Weinstein, there’s hundreds men in the neighborhood that are doing the same” (La Opinión, 12/12/17) and the statement of Brenda Gutierrez, organizer of one of the demonstrations “The conversation around Hollywood will be spread to include other industries if you force it to occur” (…) “This is beyond Hollywood” (idem). The numbers that show #TimesUp reveal it: 1 of 3 women of 18 to 34 years have suffered sexual harassment at her work, 71% of them didn’t report it. The sexual harassment exists in all the industries but especially in the low income works, resulting mostly attacked black women and latin women who are paid 65 and 59 cents each comparing a dollar paid to a white men.

#MeToo impact was felt strong with the renuncies and the prosecution of Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and many others Hollywood actors and producers. It was also very strong at the US Congress and the UK government, with the renounces of senators, deputies and ministers. In England renounced the Theresa May “number two” Damian Green since it get louder the denounce of sexual harassment of the journalist Kate Maltby. Maltby report it on 2015 and start an investigation that results in the founding of porn in the minister’s official computer. The scandal ends in the certain fact that the chief of staff laid in his statements. Therefore he renounced. Since #MeToo also achieved the resignation of the Defense Minister Michael Fallon that renounce after being denounced of harassment by another journalist called Julia Hartley-Brewer. In addition to the Defense Minister, british press published a list of 37 políticians, many of them members of the current administration, for “misconduct behaviour” ie harassment against people that was in they charge. In US have already resigned 3 congressmen, republicans and democrats, because of denounces of harassment-Trent Franks, Al Franken and Conyers. A lot more are being prosecuted and are repudiated because denounces of harassment and abuse: Donald Trump himself, the former president George Bush, Trump’s candidate for Alabama’ Senate, Roy Moore and Blake Farenthold, a texan republican congressman. For each empty seat caused by the resignation of a man that harass or abuse, women’s movement through the words of order #PowerToThePolls figure the challenge of occupy them with feminists.

The most important fact of the political situation that marked the Women’s March 2018 was, certainly, the Shut Down of the government of the US. This happened, mostly, because Trump didn’t want to stop his attack against the “dreamers”. “Dreamers” came from an acronym of the DREAM Act and its function is the protection of young people that live in the US since they were kids and whose parents are irregular immigrants that enter the country with their kids -the actual dreamers-. The approval of the DREAM Act is in struggle since 2001. Nevertheless DREAM Act wasn’t approved it lay the foundations to achieve that in 2012 were slow down the deportations and the US Migration Office accept the applications for residency entered by the DACA program – referred to the rights of the kids of irregular migration. In January 2017 740.000 people was registered by DACA. In September 2017 Trump terminate creating a picture of deportation of 2.1 millions young people. This has generated the biggest demonstrations of the young people of all over the country and the develop of the method of occupying the republicans offices to make dreamers voice hear and achieve the renewed of this mechanism of regular residency.

In the same vein of rejection to the inclusion in the US citizen to million of latin workers, is the Trump’s decision of cancel the TPS for people from El Salvador, Haití, Nicaragua and Sudán. This measure announced by Trump is jeopardizing the lives of thousands of Salvadoran that had invoked it because of having risk of life in their countries in which are developing “armed conflict ongoing or natural disasters”. About 250.000 people are target to be deported with the destruction of their families that it involves to people who have lived in the US for more than 10 years. According to the IACHR report -that has expressed already its deep concerns- “270.000 kids, US citizens will be affected because of the lost of the status of special protection that protect their fathers and mothers.”

As latin american women, Las Piqueteras from Argentina defend DACA, the dreamers and everyone who invoke the TPS because the 85% of the population in jeopardy to be deported and destroy their families are from Mexico (74%), from Central America and from South America (11%). Therefore, if Trump goes for the latin american women, latin american women will go for Trump. We are not going to let our latin sisters alone, those who are now fighting in the US for a better future to them and their families. From Argentina, the other side of our America, the Women’s March Buenos Aires Edition has pronounced in defense of the right to migrate and against the Trump’s xenophobic and racists policies that in Argentina has its correlation in Macri and his policies as the anti-immigrant executive order and the immigrants prison.

ALL OVER THE WORLD WE CLAIM #FreeAhed AND FREEDOM TO ALL THE POLITICAL PRISONERS

The slogan for freedom to #AhedTamimi and #Todxslxspresxspolíticxs (all the political prisoners) is part of the women’s movement in the world that has taken to the streets against Islamophobia, rejecting the military occupation in Palestine. Ahed, a 16-year-old girl who has resisted Nabi Salehen’s occupation in the occupied Cisjordania all her life, has been imprisoned since December 20th 2017. She’s a well-known activist who fights from 10 years of age always in the first row of the demonstrations with fists raised. At the age of 11, Ahed was filmed threatening to punch a soldier after her older brother was arrested. Two years ago, she bit a soldier who was trying to imprison her younger brother. She quickly became a symbol of Palestinian resistance and of women in struggle because of her courage and her physical resistance against the soldiers. That’s why the newspaper El País has called her “the little Passionary of the occupied territories”.

The imprisonment of Ahed Tamimi took place four days after a violent raid on her house in which Israeli soldiers seriously wounded her 15-year-old cousin Mohammad with a rubber bullet in his face. The scene was filmed and circulated by social networks. Ahed responded slapping and screaming at a soldier to leave her home in defense of her cousin. It means that she faces 12 charges of Israel military junta to defend herself. The cruelty against the figure of Ahed is accentuated by being a young woman who fights to free her people from imperialist oppression in the Middle East. For this reason she’s in jail and faces charges for 10 years for being “dangerous” and author of an “ideological crime”. “According to judge of the military court of Ofer, General Jaim Bililti, the release of Ahed could suppose ‘obstruction’ of the investigation, reported the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.” (Página 12, 28/12/2018).

Ahed is part of a people who fought in the last intifada against Trump’s provocation on December 6, when he declared Jerusalem capital of Israel ignoring the belonging of the Palestinian territories. Since this, political persecution in Palestine has deepened. On January 6, another Ahed’s cousin, Musab Firas al Tamimi, was murdered by the Israeli army with a lead bullet in his head. Israeli forces are raging against her family, recently Osama Tamimi was imprisoned. His mother, Manal, was also in jail not long ago. They don’t forgive the militancy in Al Fatah of her father, Basem Tamimi, who also suffered imprisonment like his mother who was arrested on this occasion and has already been released.

The number of prisoners arrested by the Israeli security forces increased, rasing to 610 including 170 minors, as the Committee for Palestinian Prisoner Affairs informed.

Nowadays, the young Palestine woman is a symbol of fight and resistance that they couldn’t break from humiliations and tortures in jail. She became a heroine of palestinian resistance, that was revived in this intifada. Abbas, the Palestinian President himself, communicated by phone with Ahed’s father, Basem Tamimi, praising the family for “their key role” in the protests.

Macri’s government joins Trump’s provocation against Palestine. In this sense, vice president Michetti declared that the east part of Jerusalem belongs to Israel and isn’t an occupied territory. That’s why islamophobia and political prosecution are quite common for the governments of Trump and Macri, because they govern in war against the people. In Argentina Macri imprisoned militants of the opposition like Luis D’Elia, leader of MILES party and of the Encuentro Popular Tierra, Techo y Trabajo (Popular Encounter for Land, Roof and Work) as well as people like Yussuff Khalil, just because of being Muslim, accused of being an “agent of Iran” in the AMIA case. All of them are in jail without sentence for the same doctrine applied in Palestine (in Argentina it’s called Irurzun doctrine) with the excuse that they could hinder the investigation. Argentinian edition of the Women’s March called for the freedom to all the political prisoners, including the woman native leader Milagro Sala of Tupac Amaru organization, who was deprived of her liberty two years ago in the province of Jujuy. The march also claimed against political prosecution to the argentinian former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and Lula Da Silva in Brasil.

FROM WOMEN’S MARCH TO MARCH 8th: “#8M WE STRIKE, WE STAND UP”

In line with the international women’s revolution, in Argentina we’re already preparing the second International Women’s Strike for the next March 8th. In this sense, calls for meetings are being developed in several cities of the country such as Buenos Aires City, Rosario, San Miguel de Tucumán, Resistencia (Chaco), Concordia (Entre Rios), Corrientes, Neuquén, Villa Gesell (Buenos Aires). In Latin America there will be assemblies in Asunción (Paraguay); Lima and Arequipa (Peru); Montevideo in Uruguay; La Paz, (Bolivia); Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro and Petrópolis (Brazil), Costa Rica and Guatemala. Assemblies towards the strike are also being prepared in 15 cities in Spain. Polish women staged a new “black Wednesday” on past January 17 and now are preparing to strike against the parliamentary progress of the project of the “Stop Abortion” committee that proposes to deepen the prohibition of the right to abortion in opposition to the new conservative government formed for the PIS.

To make this new world day successful, we call on women’s organizations to participate extensively in the convocation of Colectivo Ni Una Menos of Buenos Aires to meet next February 2 to begin discussing the International Women’s Strike. From Las Piqueteras we support the call of Ni Una Menos to “women, lesbians, transvestites and trans” to strike against sexist violence, trafficking in women, the feminization of poverty, for comprehensive sexual education, the application of non-punishable abortion protocols and for the right to safe, free and legal abortion. We highlight the claim for labor rights of transvestites and trans, especially at times in which we are fighting for justice for Diana Sacayán, transvestite leader murdered two years ago, and for the first conviction for homicide aggravated by transvesticide in Argentina.

This is the third women’s strike against Macri’s government and it’s part of the popular rebellion in Argentina opened by the historic days of December 14th and 18th, 2017 marked by the struggle against the pension reform as an example of the reactionary offensive of Macri. Women are protagonists and that’s why Las Piqueteras took part in the world shout that went back to the world on January 20th and 21th against fascism and against Trump. From Argentina Las Piqueteras says Out Donald Trump! Out Macri! Long live the women’s revolution! On March 8th we strike, we stand up.

01/21/2018

Las Piqueteras

Women’s in Struggle Organization

WE REJECT THE APPOINTMENT OF PRADO AS US AMBASSADOR IN ARGENTINA

After a year without Ambassador in Argentina, Trump nominated judge Edward Prado before the US Senate. Close to the Bush family and the Reagan administration, the judge has credentials of republican and reactionary. During his career he’s served first as a military and then as a judge. In the judiciary he served as judge of the Western District of Texas and later as judge on the Fifth Circuit Court of appeals. Clarín (an important newspaper of the right wing in Argentina) recognizes that “this Court, which covers Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi is known for being one of the most conservative in the country” (Clarín, 18/01/2018). From these positions he imposed death sentences, which shows that he’s an enemy of human rights.

Before this appointment, the argentine Minister of Justice Garavano – who shared conferences with Prado in the past- told Clarin “we welcome this appointment and we believe it will be very helpful to the reform of the criminal justice system and to all the justice system we want to implement” (ditto). In the same way, the most rancid right of Argentina identifies this designation as Trump’s focus to Argentina to “fight against drugs, corruption and for Nisman case”. All of this awakes our deepest rejection. Nothing can teach to the Argentinian people a judge who is part of the gear of the policy of mass incarceration in the United States. This added to the militarization under the excuse of the war against drug trafficking and the use of campaigns “against corruption” and Nisman case itself to imprison the political opposition to Macri.

Because of all of this from Las Piqueteras and the Partido Piquetero we reject this nomination and call for it to be rejected by the whole militancy of Argentina and the United States.